Plowhitch



e. HODGE.

Patented Aug. l22,1922'.

3 SXHEETS--SHl-IET 2.

ATTORNEY description.

` @Like characters refer to ythroughout the several views.

typt

f 'MACHINE COMPANY, OF NEW BRITAI 'NECTICUQ eppiication 'with a dratt appliance of whatever character it may be, but which is generally and preferably' a tractor. The dratt power may be secured in any desirable manner, for in. stance l may employ for this purpose the tractor shown in m co )endingy a lication j Serial No. 357,256 filed February 9, i920.

l I have afnumber of motives in view, among there being the provisionv of means of av lsimple nature byv which `the plow usuallyV through its beam, lcan be connected" with the tractor or some'part thereof in such way7 as to effect in a readyy manner the necessary movements of the plow such 'as during plowing. y

` ln the drawings accompanying and forining part of the present specification, `Irhave shown in detail one of the many forms ot embodiment of the invention, which to enable those skilled in the art to practice the same will be set forth fullyy in the following The novelty of the invention will be included in the claim succeeding said description. l Referring to said drawings:

Figure l is a side elevation of a plowhitch involving the invention and showing the same associatedwitha tractor.;` j' l Fig. 2v is a top plan view of the same.

take place Fig'. 3 isla top plan yview of certain of the principal parts.

Fig. e is a sectional side elevation of the saine` Fig. 5 is a sectional detail hereinatter more particularly described.

;Fig. 'is a rear elevation showing the tractor tipped laterally and 'the plow in operative position.

, As I have already noted the plow hitch may be mounted in operativerelation with someA draft appliance of suitable kindfalthough it is of especia1 utilityv when coniefi october i9, le20.' serial No. electa.'`

like parts rnowriiron.

joined, for instance kwith what is `known a tractor whichis a power propelled vehicle.l

GEORGE ORVIL EODGE, .0F BRISTOL, CONNECTICUT, ASSGNOR TO THE BRITAIN N, connnorrcnr, s. ooaroaarion ory coiv- Specification of Letters Eatent. Prlfligntf Aug.' 22" 1922,., l

Such a veliicle'is shown in'Figs. l 7and 2 and partly by dotted lines in ifigfl, being designated in a general wayby2. The `tractor shown comprises a frame as 3 to which are lconnected the traction wheelstat Voppositel sides thereof. The tractor is provided with the usual adjuncts for propelling and kcontrolling the same. rlhe controlling means" comprises practically handlesi rigidly-con nected at vtheir forward 'ends with apblock 6, this block being pivoted as at? to theframe 3 by reason of-which the ycoifitrolling handles i may be raised orlowered as desired. ln addition to this raising and lowering of the two handles they have together a lateral swinging motion. Thislateralswingof theblock how? i ever forms-no partl of thepresent case but is covered in a copending application Serial y No. 4i-18,285 iiledOct. 20,1920. The means by rwhich. the controlling handles `arev clamped intheir laterally adjusted position whatever' that may be, arey denoted in'fa general way by 8 and appear only in Fig. l.

il enerally speaking the plow like the tractor may be any 'oneoit' several different types. The plow shown is denoted in a general way by 9 and it comprises a beam 10 longitudinally curved and to the bottom of which is connected the share '11. The beam clevis` is designated by 1,2 its rear portionb'eing.,

forked asmore or less common and between the sides of theclevisthe front end 5 por# if* tion of the beam is disposed and is heldin connection withfthe clevis a pivot as 13 generally consisting of a bolt.H The sides of the rearportion' of the clevis have vertical i arcuate slotsl 'lathrough which and through the front oft the'beam l0 the bolt'l extends.

By :loosening thefnut of thisi holdingbolt thebeamilO' can jvbe vertically adjusted to regulate the depthof 'furrows and when the adjustment is secured,l thenut ofthe bolt 'L vwilll be set to temporarily maintain the ad-1 justifient. The forward or front endo'fthe clevis 12 has a forkQlG'whic-hi receives in it the branches ot the iorkedbracl'iet18fth'e branches 'of this' bracket 18 having register-i` ing perforations to receivethe fbolt 19 which is adapted to interchangeablyliterie ofthey -rows 'of perforations 20in' the branches-of' the fork `16. This provides a simple way `tor providing for the 'adjust-ment laterally bodily" of the plow 9,. As shown the transverse portion of the bracket 18 has on its front the enlargement or boss 21 to co-operate with an enlargement or boss 22 at the upper end of the arm Extending through the transverse portion or body of the bracket 18 and also through the two bosses 2-1 and is a pivot such as the bolt 24 the nut of the bolt serving to draw the two bosses 21 and 22 into firm andL substantial engagement in order to retain an adjustment to which l will hereinafter refer. To facilitate the engagement between these two bosses their'engaging surfaces are toothed or serrated as at the teeth or serrations positively preventing rotary movement of the two bosses and their associatedparts when the nut of the bolt 24 is set. This provides an effective way of securing rotary adjustment when necessary of the plow about a longitudinal axis, llle two bosses 21 and are assumed to be in substantial. and

' solid engagement in Fig. 4 in which condi- Cri - uniter the two parts.

broad relations.

tion they are held by the nut of the bolt 24. To change'` this adjustment the nut will be loosened to permit the teeth-25 of the two bosses to be freed by the separation the bosses and when this is done the beam 10 may be adjusted easilyv about a longitudinal axis and when the adjustment accomplished the parts are relatively caused to approach to bringthe teeth of the two bosses into mesh at which time the nut of the bolt 24 will be set so as to firmly hold the adjustment.

The arm 23 to which l have referred is flexibly connected as shown by a pivot 26 to a bracket 27 rigidly fastened as by bolts 28 to the under rear side of the rod 29. From this it will be understood that the arm can be swung up and down. Normally during the plowing` of afurrow thearm .43 is locked against such swing. llllhen a furrow is completed the arm is unlocked `and swung` up, through in fact the upward swing of the plow 9.4 l will her inafter describe how this particular action is brought about.

fr draft member such as the rod extends forwardly under the frame 3 of the tractor and also under the axle of the two wheels 4. Ars shown it has fastened to itsv under forward side bracket as 30 bolts 31 being shovvn as .a convenient means to rlChere might be cases of course where neither `of these brackets 27 and 30 are present. for as will be understood the invention involves rather certain rllhe bracket 30y is shown as flexibly connected as by the horizontally disposed pivot 32 with the body of the .forked bracket 33. From this it will be clear that the draft member or rod may have an automatic movement about a horn Zontal axis. The pivot 32 is held against ac cidental withdrawal by cotter pins. The

lchangeably lit one of several definitelyspaced perforations 37 in the outer portion of said angular bracket The angular bracket is attached as by bolts or screws 38 to 75 the frame 3 of the tractor these bolts extending through perforations as 39 in said bracket 85. 'The br cket in question is practically of right angular formati-on and the forward branch thereof is in proXimity to the front end of the frame 3 and the eXtreme portion thereof extends laterally beyond the frame as best shown in Fig. 2.A lt is of course rigidly connected with the tractor frame. By reason of the described construction the lateral position bodily of the plow 9 can be adjusted to conform to the draft, that is to say the longitudinal axis of the plow. may be moved closer to or further from the lineof draft of the tractor in conformity with the character of the furrow being plowed, 'the disposition of the tractor or the soil being gone over. n

lt is necessary at ytimes to lift 'the plow. Sometimes lthis occurs when a furrow has been completed but at ,other times it might be at the beginning of the furrow. I have shown a means by which the plow may be raised instantly and if necessary held for a time in the elevated position. The block or 100 bearing 6 to which l have referred, has pivoted in its under side the link 40 the pivot 41 being shown for the purpose. The link 40 is flexibly connected as bythe pivot 42 i h a yoke-like link 43. rl`he yoke-like link 105 is practically oftriangular formation, its lower oranch receiving the hook 44 at the upper end of the bolt or pin 19 thus providing a convenient way of flexibly 'connecting the bolt or pin 19 and` the triangular skele- 110 ton link 43. The side branches of said` skeletonor triangular link 43 converge upward and between their upper ends are received the enlargement at the lower end of the suspending link 40, the pin or pivot 42 eXtend- 115 ing through the two links, The pin 42 is at the lower end of a rod 45 lconstituting as shown an integral extension thereof. The rod 45 is jointed as by a pivot connection 46, with the hand lever 47 the handle of 120 which is adjacent one of the two controlling handles 5, the upper one as shown in 'Fig.f2. rl his would be the right handle in use. This right handle has rigidly fastened to 'ita sector or segment 48 in proximity to the 125 hand lever 47, the latter having a' spring detent 49 to co-operate with the teeth of the sector or segment which of courseis relatively rigid with respect to the hand. lever 47. By disengaging the detent 49 from a 130 r`carrying the space of the segment by a spring to main-l tain for the time being the adjustment. When it is desired to lift the plow 9 without lifting the handles 5 the hand Alever 47 as will be understood, is used for the purpose, and in this case the axis of motion of the plow is through the pivot 26. The plowl may be raised at any time without having recourse to the lever 47 by the elevation of the controlling handles 5. In this case the y axis of turning motion of the plowis the aXis of motion of the handles.

In Fig. 6 which isa rear elevation, lhave shown clearly how the draft line of the plow may be brought closer to the driving wheel which is in the furrow, the wheel so positioned being that on the right in said view, the other running on the surface of the ground. Whatever amount the tractor may be tipped by reason of one wheel being in the furrow, the center of gravity approaches the tipped wheel and hence the tractive` power of that wheel is greater than thel other one. By reason of the fact that the hitch, so called, can be made nearer the wheel which runs in the furrow, as by drawing the plow from a point proportional to the tractive force of the wheel, there is less tendency of the plow to interfere with the proper steeringof the tractor. It will valso he observed on reference for instanceto f Figs. l to 4 inclusive, that the connection of v the draft rod` 29 is forwardof the turning center of thejtractor by lreason ofwhich kthe plow is promptly turned when the tractor is turned and in the same direction thatthe wheels thereof are steered.` v

l have indicated the fact that thej invention has been termed a plow hitch? and vhave made it clear that this term isiused practically forconveniencel because lowing to the fact that the invention is rather broad in its relations it is not always necessary to connect l a" plow with a power-operated tractor. As will be understood theground j working appliance might be of a naturej other than a plow.

What l claim is: i. i y The combination of a lpower-operated framel havingl rearwardly-extending con-f trolling handles connected-therewithy said frame also havingV a wheeled-axle and also i having an angular bracket connected'therewith at one side thereofforwardof the axle,

farming implement located below the han-l 1' dles, aty the rear ofthe frame, an voperative connection between the forward end of the farming 'implement and the bracket, and means whereby the farming implement can be moved, through the action of the con trolling handles.

lntestnnony whereof l affix my signature. Groen oRviL Honour e 1Witnesses:

Roer. S. BROWN, ALICE J. FITZGERALD. 

